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The 79th TIF, held at Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre from 6 to 14 September, remained true to the main pillars supporting the philosophy of the event: entrepreneurship and innovation.

At the same time, though, it regained its commercial and international character, placing emphasis on the promotion and growth of the country's exporting capabilities.

The combination of commerce and business at the 79th TIF with a broad, diverse schedule of recreational events gave the Fair the dynamism required by a multi-dimensional event, a grand celebration held with the participation of the entire city and beyond.

In this context, there were 874 exhibitors at the 79th TIF, while the number of visitors exceeded all expectations, coming to 255,356 and proving that the Fair, an institution for Thessaloniki, the broader region and the entire country, is back for good.

The above number marked a 38.1% increase compared to the 185,000 visitors in 2013 and a 132.3% increase compared to the 110,000 visitors at the 2012 event.

Visitors came from all across the country and from abroad, proving that TIF remains a point of reference on the exhibition 'map' of the Balkans and South-East Europe.

According to the visitor data of the 79th TIF, it emerges that almost 70% of the total number of visitors were young individuals aged 15 to 38, a fact that is particularly encouraging for the future of the event, which, apart from old friends, is gaining new, younger ones, becoming established in their minds, too, as an institution.

According to research data by the Exhibitions Research Institute concerning the exhibitors and visitors of the 79th TIF, the general position of the Fair is assessed to be positive. More specifically, 84.8% of visitors found the general appearance of the Fair to be very satisfactory or satisfactory, 14.4% partly satisfactory and just 0.8% not at all satisfactory.

As regards the intention of visitors to repeat their visit and attend the next Fair, 91.5% intend to visit TIF again as a visitors, with just 7.6% not intending to repeat their visit. Furthermore, a significant percentage of this year's visitors, 9.5%, intend to attend the next TIF as exhibitors.

By examining exhibition participants, the 79th TIF boasted the presence of dynamic and extroverted Greek enterprises, as well as Chambers and production associations from across the country at the event.

The extroverted sector of food-beverages held a prominent position at the Fair, as the 'Farma' event included the exhibition 'Ellados Gefsis', organised by PASEGES, Pavilion 7 featured the 'Gastronomy Corner', and a special thematic event was held on Cretan Tradition and Nutrition.

The 79th TIF also hosted certain unique activities and events that had never been held before.

These included the CERN Exhibition, where visitors were able to embark on an exciting journey to the origin of the universe and the heart of matter, as well as a special thematic event on Orthodoxy that hosted, among others, the Museum of the Holy Metropolis of Thessaloniki.

The 79th TIF also marked the opening of the Choco Factory and Museum, a unique Theme Park of European specifications, while in the field of art, CHEAPART celebrated its 20th anniversary.